Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said that due to lockdown int he wake of Corona virus, the ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana', which was started by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide ration to needy poor people has proved to be effective for the people in the hour of need.
An official spokesperson said that under the scheme, the beneficiaries of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), below poverty line (BPL) and other priority families (OPH),are given 5-kg of wheat and 1-kg of pulses per member per month.
The spokesperson said that on the initiative of Chief Minister in the time of crisis, ration for three months of April, May, and June is being distributed free of cost to the needy.
In the month of April, 98 percent wheat and 93 percent pulses were distributed. Thus, under this scheme, 1.20 crores members of 27 lakh families of the above three categories were provided 58,062 metric tonnes of wheat and 2,512 metric tonnes of pulses. Hence, the state government provided benefits to the tune of Rs 154 crores to the needy people.
The spokesperson said that under the National Food Security Act, the central government allocated 35-kg of wheat per family to AAY families and for the BPL and OPH families 5-kg wheat per person has been given at a much cheaper rate of Rs 2 per kg.
He further added that the State Government has decided to bear the cost of the ration given in the month of April.
CM APPEALS TO FARMERS TO MOVE AWAY FROM PADDY
Appealing farmers to conserve water and move away from paddy cultivation and diversify to other crops, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched ‘Mera Pani, Meri Virasat’ scheme on Wednesday evening.
Khattar said that under this scheme, farmers who switch to alternative crops like maize or pulses or diversify into horticulture or growing vegetables in place of paddy during the season would be given an incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre.
Referring to dark zones where depletion of the water table had doubled in the past 12 years, The Chief Minister said that the scheme was specifically being launched for the eight paddy-intensive blocks. These are Ratia, Siwan, Guhla, Pipli, Shahabad, Babain, Ismailabad and Sirsa.
The non-paddy dominated blocks — that include Badhra of Charkhi Dadri district, Bahl and Loharu of Bhiwani district, Khol of Rewari district and Mahendergarh block of district Mahendergarh — where the depth of ground water is more than 40m will be included in this scheme.
Farmers have been urged to sow 50 per cent of paddy in other areas where water is available to improve the groundwater level.
Khattar urged the farmers to make up their minds to sow crops which require less water than paddy such as maize, arhar, urad, guar, cotton, bajra, til and grisham moong (Baisakhi moong) to ensure availability of water for future generations.